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A woman took time to change a girl's life

By Times Staff Writer
Published March 11, 2005

CARROLLWOOD - The phone rings at the end of a busy workday.

It's Kathleen Pravlik, calling for her "little."

Forty-five minutes and a pair of "I love you's" later they're ready to settle in for the night, Pravlik in Carrollwood Meadows, Jamie Woodford in South Tampa.

In three months Jamie will be out of high school and, officially, their mentoring relationship will be over.

But no matter what Big Brothers Big Sisters says officially, Pravlik always hopes to be a part of Woodford's life.

"I truly love Jamie like a daughter," she says.

Being a Big Sister is more of a commitment than writing a check, painting someone's house or working a shift on a phone bank.

Pravlik has done all of that and more. She has been a passionate volunteer since her high school days in Pittsburgh.

She has been named Big Sister of the Year for Florida because of her relationship with Woodford, which goes back nine years. She won, in part, because of a short essay from Woodford, who wrote that "Kathleen is always putting other people before her," and "is always there for me when I need to talk to someone."

In addition to being a constant in the teen's life, Pravlik helps train other Big Sisters. She agreed to this column not to draw attention to the honor bestowed on her, but to publicize the good works of the organization.

"There's so many "littles' out there who want a "big' so bad," she says.

Woodford's story, naturally, has things better left unsaid.

Her father approached the organization when he realized that his 8-year-old daughter needed a positive female role model. Jamie did not even make girlfriends easily.

Pravlik, then in her early 30s, had just emerged from a relationship with a man who'd had children. She was eager to do something productive with her time.

So she contacted Big Brothers Big Sisters and went through the exhaustive screening and training.

She met Jamie and her father one day after work. She remembers being somewhat overdressed. Jamie's father told her afterward, "I was so happy you had makeup on."

Pravlik found Jamie shy at first. But once they got to know each other, "she never stopped talking."

Weekly outings to the zoo and elsewhere gradually took a back seat to a genuine friendship.

She figured out what the best of Big Sisters know.

That you are not meant to be the children's ticket to Disney World.

You are there to coax them through a rough patch at school and tell them, "you can do anything you want to do."

You are there to listen when they see wealthier children and remark, "I'm one of the have-nots."

You are there, if you stick around as long as Pravlik did, to witness their transition into womanhood and their first romance.

It's a delicate relationship, more than friend, less than parent.

Pravlik gets along well with Woodford's father, a supermarket meat cutter. She's careful to respect the boundaries that come with being a mentor. "He's the parent," she said.

There was a time when Woodford went through an "expressive" stage, she said, dyeing her hair purple and orange (Woodford remembers it as blue and green). It seemed harmless enough. "He was okay with her expressing herself because she was not into drugs or any bad things," Pravlik said.

Now the child who struggled in school is graduating from Plant High and considering a career in medicine.

She thinks of becoming a Big Sister herself.

As for Pravlik?

She'll stay involved with the organization, although most likely as an in-school mentor. She intends to have a family of her own and stays busy running a graphics design business.

Asked if she has regrets, she has trouble naming any.

She thinks back to her own childhood, which was pretty close to perfect, with a loving father and a mother whom the entire neighborhood called "Mom." She lost both parents by the time she was in her mid 20s. So in a way, she supposes, they live on through her work with Big Sisters.

"When you give money to something, you don't really see what it does," Pravlik said.

"I give her my time. And I can see the result."

Nearly 500 children are awaiting Big Brother or Big Sister matches in the Tampa Bay area. For more information, call toll-free 1-888-293-2535.

[Last modified March 10, 2005, 09:33:10]